1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of lamps and specifically to a submerged lamp with a self grounding sleeve.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electric lighting installations are commonly located below water level in swimming pools, spas, hot tubs and other liquid containing apparatus. The lighting installation generally includes a lamp disposed in a sealed enclosure to isolate the lamp from the water. The enclosure includes a lens used to focus, diffuse, or color the light. If the lens breaks or the enclosure leaks significantly, water flowing into the enclosure will usually cause the glass bulb of the lamp to break. The water then creates a conducting path from the lamp's electrical power source into the pool, thus permitting a current to flow through the water.
Electrical components and accessories for a pool are usually connected to a grounding grid or another common circuit to minimize the likelihood of a current traveling through the pool. Lighting installations are equipped with various means of ensuring that a fault will travel to ground instead of through the pool. U.S. Patent application Ser. No. 08,119,617, filed Sep. 13, 1993, shows a mechanical spring device for connecting filament supports to ground if the filament breaks. U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,996 to George shows a lamp with a ground conductor disposed between two filament supports.
In such installations, it is desirable to maximize the likelihood that a current will travel to ground rather than through the pool. It is an object of the present invention to provide a lamp that minimizes the likelihood of creating a current through a pool upon breakage of the lamp.